Ridley Scott: 3D isn't brain surgery, it's dead simple

It may surprise some but Prometheus, Ridley Scott's prequel to Alien, has been shot in 3D - his first film to be so. Indeed, some might have even believed the English director was not be a fan of the technology. They'd be wrong.

And having seen around 10-15 minutes of Prometheus during a private screening - being among the first in the world outside studio 20th Century Fox to get the honour - Pocket-lint can say that he's taken to it like a duck to water. Because, as Scott himself told us during a Q&A session afterwards, shooting 3D is "dead simple".

This is partly, Scott explained, down to hiring the right cinematographer. Darius Wolski has previously worked with Ridley's brother Tony, on Crimson Tide and The Fan, and Tim Burton on Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Alice in Wonderland, but it is his work on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie - most notably the last, 3D one - that stood him in good stead to work on Prometheus.

"[He's a] wonderful cameraman," said Scott. "And we used Red cameras, so the quality is superb."

But ultimately, it's was Scott's own direction that determined whether a 3D shot worked or not. Although, even then he took a modest line.

"If you've got something hanging around in the foreground [that looks out of place] tell it to f**k off," he proclaimed.

Prometheus is released in 3D in the UK on 1 June. The US will get it one week later.

Are you looking forward to Prometheus? Do you think it will stand up against Scott's original Alien? Let us know in the comments below...

Our senior ed of news and features has been a tech and games journalist for more than 27 years, and has been with Pocket-lint for over five. Rik has edited a number of videogame magazines in the past, was deputy editor of Home Cinema Choice, and his TV career included stints as co-presenter of Channel 4's Gamesmaster and Sky One’s Games World.